Spotlighting capacity enhancement activities, networks, and opportunities across EIDM organisations in Africa: an

AEN studyGoToMeeting Online Platform, 14:00-15:15 (UCT +2), 30 June 2020

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www.africaevidencenetwork.org

Africa Evidence Webinar 7

Chair:Siziwe Ngcwabe, Head of Operations, Africa Evidence Network

Speakers:Dr Linda Etale, Researcher, Africa Evidence Network, South Africa

Dr Nasreen Jessani, Head of Strategy, Africa Evidence Network, South Africa

Africa Evidence Webinar 7

Impetus for the study

• To understand the scope of work on EIDM across 90 organisations in Africa, their reach, their activities and how scale can be met through engagement with the AEN

GOAL

• To explore the capacities and activities of African EIDM organisations

• To explore potential synergiesfor collaboration with the AEN

• To speak to senior members of the organisations (irrespective of AEN membership status)

AIM

1

In a nutshell, we wanted to:

2

Better understand the organisations within the African EIDM ecosystem

Capture information on existing capacities and capacity sharing endeavours across these organisations

Document perceived interest and opportunities in institutional collaborations with the AEN

Learn from other networks

Explore the feasibility of institutional memberships (benefits and challenges)

Utilize data to identify opportunities for the AEN

Document and share results with the wider AEN community

Results dissemination

Data analysisData

collection

Participant selection &

recruitment

Qualitative Approach

6 Sep-2 Oct 2019 6 Sep-10 Dec 2019 11 Dec -27 May 2020 03 Feb-30 Jun 2020

60min

3

Respondent selection

Research councils

Research consultancies and

think tanks

Government departments

Research centres and

units

Organisation Exclusion criteria

Organisation Inclusion Criteria

• Based in Africa

• Amongst the 250 orgs identified by a previous ACE study

• Core mandate is EID/PM

Purposive & snowball sampling

Inclusion & exclusion criteria

Individuals Selection

Mid-to- senior level management

Respondent need not be an AEN member if above criteria met

Targets & responses

90organizations were targeted

32organizations participated

252individuals

targeted

36

individuals participated

Unlessthere is a specific programme of work around EIDM or supporting the use of evidence in their core mandate

4

Making sense of the data collected

Qualitative analysis

Descriptive

Respondent overview

Organizational overview

AnalyticalThematic framework

analysis

3 or more similar quotes speaking to the same idea qualified as a theme

Presented as tables & figures

5

Respondent Demographics

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40% (14/35)

60% (21/35)

0%

17%

34%

40%

3%6%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 Older than 64

There was no respondent for the 18-24 years category

Interviews: 252 invitations sent out;

80 responses were received.

Out of the 80, 66 were positive responses with 36interviews conducted.

Respondents’ position: 7/36 (19 %) identified as either director/team leader

6/36 (17%) identified as ED/CEO/DG respectively.

None identified themselves as an advisor or general secretary.

9/36 (25%) identified as other

Response overview Sex of respondentsAge of respondents (n=35)

23 (64%) out of 36 were AEN members

Membership status

Organisations that participated in the studyAfrica Centre for Evidence Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi In On Africa

African Development Bank Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) -Johannesburg

Kenya Medical Research Institute

African Leadership Centre Collaboration for Evidence Based Health Care in Africa

Nigerian Academy of Science

Association Senegalaise d’Evaluation (SenEval) Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

Office of the Prime Minister-Directorate of Monitoring, Evaluation & Inspection (Uganda)

Cameroon Centre for Evidence Based Health Care Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation

PACKS Africa

Centre d'Actions pour l'Environnement et le Développement Durable (ACED)

Effective Basic Services (eBASE) Policy Action Network (Human Sciences Resources Council)

Center for Development in Research and Evaluation International Africa

Ethiopian Evaluation Association South Africa Medical Research Council

Centre for Evidence Based Health Care (Stellenbosch University)

Ethiopian Evidence Based Health Care Centre, Jimma University

South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association

Centre for Health Policy (University of Witwatersrand)

Ethiopian Public Health Institute The Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Forum

Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR) - Anglophone Africa (AA)

Evaluation Society of Kenya (ESK) Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS)West Africa Capacity-building and Impact Evaluation (WACIE)

(Health Systems Research Unit) South Africa Medical Research Council

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10 embedded within another organisation 22 stand-alone 4 networks & 3 associations amongst the 32

32Organisations

Reported sector engagement (k=32)

Other

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Coordinating M&E for entire government

Refugee response

Disaster preparedness and management

Strategic affirmative action

Monitoring, evaluation & Learning

Research methodologies and mechanisms for

EIDM

Leadership as an academic pursuit

Children and youth sector

Social Welfare

Institutionalization of evaluation in

government systems

Other

NB: several mentioned above denote technical engagements rather than sector identification

6

7

8

8

9

10

12

13

13

14

15

16

16

19

20

21

22

27

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Migration and Asylum

Transportation

Energy and Extractives

Fragility, Conflict and Violence

Information and Communication Technology

Financial Sector

Private Sector

Human Capital Development

Urban Development

Human Rights and Democratic Governance

Public Administration

Agriculture

Economic and Financial Governance

Climate Change

Gender

Education

Environment

Health

Number of organisations

Se

cto

rs

Organisations’ experience in the field of EIDM (k=32)

9

14

7

4 4

2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Established (8-15 years) Well established (15+ years)? New to this work (0-3 years) Have some experience (3-8years)

Uncertain

No

.of

org

an

isa

tio

ns

Experience

Primary organisational location (k=32)

10

12countries

21out 28 (23%) org’s

indicated that they were members of one or more

networks/associations

7out 30 (23%) org’s

indicated that they were a network (4)/ association (3)

1

Making sense of the data collected

Qualitative analysis

Descriptive

Respondent overview

Organizational overview

AnalyticalThematic framework

analysis

3 or more similar quotes speaking to the same idea qualified as a theme

Presented as tables & figures

11

Interview questionsEIDM capacity enhancement Engaging with the AEN EIDM Networks and

associations

What kind of activities that enhance evidence use in decision-making does your organization engage in?

Elaborate on how the AEN might support your work towards increasing the use of evidence in decision-making?

Who does the network or association “serve”? (e.g. researchers, decision-makers, community activists, advocacy groups)

What factors enable your organization’s capacity development activities?

How can the AEN capitalize from your strengths and capacities as an organization?

How would you describe the network’s or association’s core functions?

What factors constrain your organization’s capacity development activities?

How can the AEN collaborate further with your organization to achieve our shared goals?

Please mention the TWO most important barriers to the network or association’s functioning.

What do you consider to be the key prioritiesaround EIDM capacity development that AEN could support at the individual level, organizational, & network level?

Please mention the TWO most important enablers of the Network’s or association’s functioning.

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Capacity Development Activities (k=32)

13

Activities that enhance evidence use in decision-making in organisations (k=32)

14

Other activities:• Evaluation of

projects and programs

• Undertaking evidence synthesis and evidence mapping (co-producing),

• Developing tools for evidence uptake and implementation.

28

26 26

19

1716

14 14

10

5

2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

CapacityStrengthening

Conveningmembersphysically

CommunicatingResearch

Conveningmembersvirtually

Facilitating &enhancingdialogue bt

relevantstakeholders on

EIDM

Participating inPolicy Advocacy

Facilitatingintros/Brokering

rships

Co-producingresearch on EIDM

or KT

Other activities Conductingresearch on the

science and art ofEIDM or

KnowledgeTranslation

Rapid Response

Nu

mb

er o

f O

rgan

sait

ion

s

EIDM Activities

Factors that enable organisations’ capacity development activities

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Expertise and capacity in Niche areas

Common Values

Conducive Learning

Environment

Funding for Capacity

Development

Supportive Governance

and Management

of organisations

Strong and Collaborative Partnerships

Political will & demand for evidence in

policy making

HR Devt/ CD Approaches

Factors that constrain organisations’ capacity development activities

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Non-supportive Govt policy/

Political issues

HR and Organizational Infrastructure

Capacity issues

Funding issues on Capacity

Development

Language/ Communication

barriers

Competing/ Conflicting interests

Enhancing the African EIDM Ecosystem together

17

Recommendations around EIDM capacity development that AEN could support at the individual, organisation, and network levels

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Individual

Learning from and celebrating an African EIDM Culture

Capacity Enhancement of all involved in EIDM (researchers and decision-makers)

Communication Enhancement/ Embracing Non Traditional Communication

M&E as part of EIDM

Purposeful Networking & collaborations

Awareness Creation on EIDM

Organisational

Institutionalization of EIDM

Policy advocacy and EIDM/ Creating demand

Capacity to support prioritization and tracing/evaluating of E2P

Communication & EIDM/ KT

Learning, sharing and collaborating

Purposeful Networking & Collaboration

Network

Engaging with Policy Advocacy

Sustainability of networks/Assns. Incl. membership

Awareness creation, Learning & Sharing

How AEN can enhance its own role, governance, communication, etc.

Resource mobilization/ Funding

Partnerships and collaborations

Virtual Engagement

• Website• Learning hub• blogs• webinars,• Africa Evidence Week• Online festivals

In-person Engagement

• Evidence 2014,16,18• meetingsResearch & Reflection

• ACE Geo-map• member surveys• SoC• Org Research Study

Special Initiatives

• Language translation (French)

• African Evidence Leadership Award

Social Media

• Twitter, LinkedIn

How can the AEN support organizations' EIDM activities?(areas of synergy)

Platform for communication &

marketing

Platform for Accessing experts

Platform for building relationships and

collaboration

Platform for Capacity development & opportunities

Platform for Financial Resource mobilisation

Platform for Learning and experience sharing

Inititiatives for recognition (awards)

19

How can other EIDM organisations support the AEN?(leveraging strengths and capacities)

20

The organizations with different capacities offered to:

help make connections in Francophone countries

provide resources such as guidelines & tools in specific fields

provide expertise e.g. M&E and EIDM

share lessons on policy advocacy in a fairly-politically restricted environment

work with others in resource mobilisation

share opportunities & information e.g. funding, collaborations, training

Opportunities for mutual capacity sharing

Mentor & host students as we benefit from human resource

Facilitate conferences & meetings that AEN has organized, e.g. sessions of Evidence Conferences

Speak to each other when developing and disseminating products, e.g. evidence maps

Co-designing advocacy agenda/strategy around evidence use

21

EIDM NETWORK QUESTIONS

22

Why include & understand networks and Associations?

Reality about dealing with disperse set of members, not about their legal status.

To learn from their experiences including their enabling and constraining factors

Identify similarities between the AEN and these associations & networks if any

23

Membership Diversity of the Networks/Associations (n=7)

24

4 Networks

3 Associations

Highest

7Orgs’ indicated membership

consisted of academia

Lowest

2Orgs’ indicated membership

consisted of intermediaries/brokers

Networks or associations core functions

CD initiatives for members

Circulating CD opportunities

Create a National M&E Repository

Mobilizing resources

Remunerate members for papers presented

Professionalization of the society

Providing a platform for scientific debates

Public Relations

25

Factors that enable Network/Association functioning

26

Political/ Govt good will

Interest and buy-in into what the network

represents

Commitment from members to support

the growth of the network

Sustainable funding for network activities

Factors that constrain Network/Association functioning

27

Sub-optimal External

communication/ weak marketing

Lack of sustainable funding for

network expenses

Human resource challenges

Time constraints for network

activities

Member mis-understanding the purpose of

network

Next Steps

28

We have already incorporated some of the recommendations.

We will reach out to organizations offering opportunities for collaboration.

Some recommendations are outside the scope of the AEN and so we will not be able to respond to them

There are recommendations that we will keep them in mind for AEN’s future strategies

Study limitations

People that straddle between organizations

Obtaining contact information was challenging

Organizations with no available representation

Non-responsiveness to emails

Downside of targeting the top of the chain managers of organizations

Some managers felt that the interview questions were too clerical

Some managers could not respond to specific questions about their programming around EIDM

Cancellation, declining and/or re-scheduling of interviews

Bias: Habituation, Question- order

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Acknowledgements

AEN Secretariat

ACE Staff

Organisational Study Respondents

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Thank you

Linda Etale, PhDAfrica Centre for Evidence

www.africacentreforevidence.org

@lindaetale@NasreenJessani@Africa_evidence

Questions? Email letale@uj.ac.za

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 ZA. Full license details here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/za/

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